


When Ideas Meet Infants

by Mingyou17



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, Onghwangchamdeep, Single Parents, boss jisung, child jinyoung, child woojin, mentioned child jihoon, parenting, single parent minhyun, single parent seongwu, stressed ong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 06:26:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15723813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mingyou17/pseuds/Mingyou17
Summary: Prompt #27Seongwoo was never good at sticking to plans and apparently his son Woojin wasn't either.





	1. Chapter 1

Things just don’t work out the way you plan them. Seongwoo knows this fact intimately. The life plan was graduate with a degree in theatre, perform around the country and perhaps the world and then naturally settle down with a man or a woman and have a child. That plan came crashing down when Seongwoo knocked up his semi-serious girlfriend in his first year of university. The mother had no desire to keep the child but Seongwoo felt compelled to and after a few months of desperate failings to timetable a baby into university life, functioning on half a meal a day in order to afford general life and taking care of a baby and his rapidly falling grades, Seongwoo dropped out of university with dreams of performing in tatters. As desperate and as harrowing as it was in hindsight, Seongwoo failed to imagine how his big plan could bring him even an ounce of the happiness his son Woojin, now four, had brought into his life.

However, that didn’t mean that everything ran smoothly. Big plans aside, even little plans don’t work out. Plans like dropping your kid off at nursery and going to work are apparently too difficult to maintain. Waking up to a voicemail from the day-care centre apologising for an immediate closure due to illness amongst staff brought Seongwoo into immediate panic. He woke Woojin up immediately, roughly an hour earlier than he usually would have, to get him dressed and ready for if Seongwoo could find anywhere to take him at short notice. Disrupting Woojin’s sleep pattern was an error Seongwoo knew not to make yet he couldn’t envision any other options. Woojin was going to be grouchy and a grouchy Woojin was far from the energetic bundle of adorableness Seongwoo took great joy in dealing with.

Seongwoo also made the rookie mistake of planting Woojin in front of his toys whilst he finished getting his things together which left him with a wailing child distraught to be leaving behind his legion of toys. Try as he might he was incapable of getting Woojin to calm down and stop crying. It didn’t help that by the time they arrived at the train station, the train was already parked up meaning that Seongwoo had to sprint across the station, jostling his disorientated child who continued to screech. The attention this brought to the father-son duo persisted as he sat on an empty seat on the train, garnering looks from passengers judging his parenting skills, making quick assumptions on the basis of his untucked, un-ironed shirt and his child’s matted, uncombed hair. When Seongwoo was a new father, this attention made him want to cry, to explain his circumstances and show that he wasn’t a bad father and that he was trying his hardest to provide and care for his son. Now, he was still affected but he learnt that people rarely care about the reality, they just want to cast quick assumptions that assure them of their own superiority, regardless of whether it is at the cost of an innocent child and a tired father.

Woojin continued to wail continuously for the next 3 stops of the train to the point that Seongwoo had almost developed the ability to tune him out despite Woojin having his full attention. When Seongwoo suddenly recognised the stark silence of the train, his immediate thought was that he had gone deaf as opposed to imagining that his crying child had miraculously silenced himself.

However, what he found was Woojin open-mouthed, gawping at the passenger who had silently seated himself next to the father and son, completely entranced as he stared at the man. Seongwoo knew he should chastise his son for staring or apologise as even with babies, some people could be uncomfortable with staring. However, as Seongwoo was about to he became equally entranced by the man’s face. He was undeniably handsome and Seongwoo thought that his face was as close to perfection as he would ever witness. Seongwoo, blatantly staring at the handsome stranger, watched as the man looked back uncomfortably, eyes flitting between Seongwoo and his son who wore matching facial expressions.

“Is… Is he your son?” The stranger asked, the tips of his ears flushed pink in what Seongwoo assumed was shyness or uncomfortableness, which he supposed was entirely his fault.

“Wha- Yes. Yes, this is my son.” Seongwoo stuttered out, attempting to conjure up a somewhat coherent thought when the sight of the stranger’s face brought both his, and apparently Woojin’s, thinking capacities to a standstill.

“Ah. Family resemblance.” The stranger said, looking down at Woojin and smiling gently. Woojin’s precious face which had been warped with his bad mood all morning melted, presenting a toothy smile that showed off his endearing snaggletooth. Seongwoo was delighted to have some peace return to his morning but he couldn’t help but feel the slight sense of parental resentment that some stranger was able to calm and manage his child effortlessly better than he was able to. In the midst of such thoughts, Seongwoo found his eyes drifting back to the stranger’s face, which was hardly doing wonders for the stranger’s sense of comfort.

“Sorry. It’s just your face.” Seongwoo blurted out in an attempt to snap himself out of this visual induced coma and back to reality. What seemed to be a perfectly valid explanation to Seongwoo was immediately invalidated by yet another confused expression from the handsome stranger, who attempted to glance at his vague reflection in the windows of the train to see if anything was wrong.

“Is distracting.” Seongwoo attempted to clarify, feeling that it was way too early in the day for him to demonstrate his extremely under-practiced and ineffective flirting skills, since he hadn’t even thought about dating since Woojin came into his life.

“Thank you?” The man said, his intonation rising in confusion. Seongwoo wanted to slap himself. In what world do you compliment a handsome man by calling him distracting?

“No- Good! Woojin calm. Thanks- great.”

“Glad I can be of service. I’m Minhyun.” The handsome stranger, now Minhyun, replied. Seongwoo was a little bit shocked by the interaction. There had been more times than Seongwoo cared to think about when a stranger on public transport or in the grocery shop aided him in his attempts to wrangle Woojin into being an acceptable human being in a public space, but it was all with the slightly condescending tone implying his inadequacy as a father and with no intent to aid further. To introduce yourself, to Seongwoo’s overthinking mind, was to imply that he would need to name in future.

“I’m Seongwoo.” Seongwoo replied, the words feeling rather unfamiliar in his mouth. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to introduce himself to anyone that wasn’t a childcare worker.

The customary silence that exists between two strangers commuting early in the morning fell upon them, as it would have earlier if not disturbed by Woojin. Woojin curled himself towards Seongwoo, clearly exhausted and frowning as he began to fall asleep. Seongwoo knew that having to wake Woojin up again was going to be even more painful for the both of them but Seongwoo had always found it difficult to disturb him, he wanted to give him the world but unfortunately, he could only give Woojin what was free.

Seongwoo began to ponder the day ahead of him and felt the tell-tale feelings of anxiety begin to flood his body. His boss Jisung had been way too understanding about Seongwoo’s circumstances as a single father but Seongwoo lived in fear that his evidently impacted productivity would give Jisung no choice but to let him go. Seongwoo was living off his wages, he had no means to sustain Woojin and himself if he was unemployed. Woojin was obviously going to be fussy and distracting today which meant that Seongwoo was not going to get as much work done as he definitely needed to do. Seongwoo sighed, pressing his face into his hand and massaging his temples in frustration.

“Are you okay… Seongwoo?” Minhyun asked, grabbing Seongwoo’s attention. It was clear that Seongwoo’s internal mental struggles were evident in his posture and demeanour.

“I’m sorry I’m having the worst day ever. The day-care can’t take Mr. Cranky-pants today, so he’s got to come with me to work and I honestly don’t know how I can possible be productive whilst entertaining him.” Seongwoo replied, brushing his fingers through Woojin’s hair as he continued to sleep, blissfully unaware of the problems that he was giving his father, which was a perspective Seongwoo was aiming to maintain throughout his son’s life – Woojin was by no means a burden in Seongwoo’s mind.

Minhyun nodded and a brief moment passed as the man glanced between Seongwoo and the child nestled on his lap before he responded.

“I don’t know if I’m overstepping my boundaries here, but I really don’t have anything else to do today and I’m great with kids. If your work environment allows for it, I could stay and help keep him busy if you want.” Seongwoo’s jaw dropped for the second time since seeing Minhyun. No one had ever offered him something like that. Sure, his friends babysat Woojin now and again in short windows of free-time that made Seongwoo feel like he was imposing when he saw how busy his friends were, as newly working people in their 20s tended to be. Gradually, Seongwoo ceased to ask and his friends were too caught up in their own lives to notice or offer.

“Are you kidding? Are you an angel? Because I’m pretty certain I used up all my blessings getting Woojin, I don’t know if you need to check up with the big man if you’ve got the right guy, I don’t deserve this.”

“You seem to be a nice guy that needs a break.” Minhyun stated simply with a small, neutral smile that comforted Seongwoo. The word break was so unfamiliar to Seongwoo at this point, it seemed like the world had been against him for years and he’d never been able to catch a relief. A bad idea or not, Seongwoo wanted to grab one, as selfish as it may be.

 

In the end, Minhyun got off the train alongside Seongwoo, insisting on shouldering Seongwoo’s work bag so that Seongwoo could hold a just about sleeping Woojin more easily. His manager Jisung was visibly alarmed and confused, insisting that Seongwoo didn’t need to have gone to such trouble and that he could have had the day off. Seongwoo knew his boss was kind-hearted and would have said that, but he persisted and Jisung noted that he was impressed with Seongwoo’s work ethic, an assurance that was fully welcome to Seongwoo, helping in calming his anxiety about employment. With that, Seongwoo dragged chairs into his office and pulled out the various toys and objects he’d shoved into a bag thoughtlessly as he was about to leave. Seongwoo was riddled with guilt and uncertainty as he logged onto his computer, watching out of the corner of his eye a stranger play miraculously well with his child who was a) usually extremely shy around strangers and b) very tired at the moment. Seongwoo was aware that literally every other parent would never be caught dead letting a stranger take over their childcare, a thought to add to his inferiority complex as a father and tried to reassure himself that he was literally watching the other man and there was little room for things to go catastrophically wrong.

Seongwoo had a few hours of productivity that he had rarely been able to achieve as he was regularly checking his phone in case the nursery school called him to pick up Woojin, combined with the guilt of not being able to spend enough time with his son and the complex maths of budgeting. Seongwoo was becoming progressively convinced that Minhyun had some child handling superpowers as he hardly remembered that he was there. Woojin was a very loud child, something that Seongwoo was initially intimidated by and feared in public places but had progressively begun to adore but then Seongwoo was biased by his adoration and love for his son. Around strangers, his son was usually a little more shy but usually not to this extent, especially when Minhyun seemed to be playing so well with him.

“You’re amazing with children.” Seongwoo commented, in what he hoped was a casual and subtle tone and not one consumed by admiration, as he organised the files which progressively became splayed across his desk. Minhyun at last looked up from Woojin, who was currently sat between Minhyun’s widespread legs playing with his trains. Minhyun absolutely beamed at the compliment while he thanked him and Seongwoo wondered why that made the other man so happy.

Time passed in a whirlwind, especially since Jisung called it an early night by an hour on account of him wanting to pick up his own son Jihoon from a school trip. Seongwoo was undoubtedly eager to get Woojin back in his arms and basked in the happy giggles emitted from the child as he clung to his father. Minhyun and Seongwoo left his office building side by side, Minhyun thankfully being distracted by Woojin when Seongwoo’s colleague (and unfortunately his best friend) Jaehwan wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the pair which Seongwoo responded to with a glare.

“Can I take you to dinner some time? With Woojin of course.” Minhyun asked, his hands tucked into his pockets in a subtle display of shyness, as they walked to the train station.

“Honestly, you’ve done more than enough.” Seongwoo sighed, beginning to feel overwhelmed by Minhyun’s enthusiasm and care which he felt totally unused to.

“I don’t mind really.” Minhyun assured him, making a dismissive hand gesture before he adjusted the bag strap over Seongwoo’s shoulder which certainly didn’t help Seongwoo’s conflicting opinion of Minhyun’s open intimacy at this time.

“You’re too nice… Are we some charity case? Your good deed for the day? Yes, this is a bad day but trust me, we’ve had worst. We don’t need your help, we’ve gotten on just fine without any.” Seongwoo had always had a bit of a short temper and his hermit lifestyle meant that it was only really possible to take it out on himself or Jaehwan who would promptly just hit him and now the unfortunate Minhyun who had attempted to socialise with the mess that is Ong Seongwoo. He was feeling overwhelmed by the situation, confused by the emergence of affectionate feelings towards someone that wasn’t his son after years of nothing and defensive against being disappointed by whatever Minhyun’s true intentions were.

“I know you don’t need my help. I’d still like to offer it though. Woojin’s a cute kid and his dad is pretty cute as well. I’m not offering to be his dad, I’m offering you dinner.” Minhyun replied firmly, now taking the bag that he had already fixed which insisted on falling and placing it over his own shoulder. Seongwoo couldn’t help the thought that if someone was to look at them and not overhear their mild argument, the scene would look very domestic. A solid family unit isn’t something Seongwoo had ever pined for, hoping to provide for his son fully without relying on anyway, but Seongwoo suddenly felt pangs of desire for it, for himself as much as it was for Woojin. Although in the case of Minhyun, Seongwoo felt like this might be a desire based on selfish interests. 

“I’m sorry.” Seongwoo muttered quietly, feeling the waves of guilt wash over him progressively as he reflected on how rude he had been.

“Like you said, it’s a bad day.” Minhyun said, offering him a reassuring smile and poking the cheek of Woojin who was walking in between them, although he was more hopping than walking as he clutched onto his dad’s hand.

“No. I met you. I think this is the best day we’ve had in a while.” Seongwoo said, looking between his son and Minhyun and smiling wider than he had in a while.

 

“Truthfully, I’m a single dad too. My baby Jinyoung’s uncles are giving me a day off and looking after him for me. I’ve had plenty of days like yours and if my friends didn’t help me then no one did, and they were the worst days. I didn’t want you to suffer like I did.” Minhyun said, playing with the spoon in his un-drank coffee, Seongwoo being unaware that the other man disliked bitterness and was simply following social customs in accepting drinks offered in someone’s home.

Minhyun added that his friends, and adoring uncles of his son, were letting the three-year-old sleep over at their apartment, which freed up Minhyun to go back to Seongwoo’s flat so that he could put Woojin to bed. Seongwoo had blushed furiously as he unveiled his cheap, scruffy flat with toys splayed the floor, feeling anxiety and shame flood him. However, the well-dressed man gave away no impression of dismay as he looked around but rather looked somewhat melancholic. Seongwoo got the impression that Minhyun had lived like this at some point too.

Seongwoo excused himself to put Woojin down and when he came back he found that Minhyun had briefly cleaned up and was sat comfortably on his couch looking like he belonged there, and Seongwoo couldn’t help but hoping he could. Seongwoo sat down next to him, maintaining what he viewed to be a comfortable distance for borderline strangers however, after straining to see the first of hundreds of pictures of Jinyoung that Minhyun would show him, Seongwoo found that he and Minhyun’s bodies naturally drifted closer and pressed against each other’s which was a level of intimacy that Seongwoo hadn’t experienced since Woojin’s conception. Minhyun explained that he’d gotten a girl he hadn’t been particularly serious with pregnant at the end of his second year of university who had unfortunately died in childbirth. Initially, Minhyun took Jinyoung on out of guilt, not wanting to be responsible for the demise of two lives and had been deeply terrified of fatherhood for many months. Minhyun said that his background was rather affluent, and it wasn’t really a problem to sustain himself and Jinyoung until his parents found out and cut him off. Regardless, he persisted with his architecture degree and graduated, which was mindboggling to Seongwoo who had tried and failed to balance childcare and studying. Seongwoo also relayed his story, the two of them being occasionally emotional as they spoke of their hardships, aware that this was one of the few conversations they’d had where the other person could completely empathise with their experiences. Seongwoo had not felt so at ease around another person in years truthfully. Minhyun felt like a no-judgement zone to him. Of course, his friends were supportive but from time to time they would pass comments or suggestions out of ignorance of how difficult it was for Seongwoo which made him want to hide away. But with Minhyun he felt that he could tell him that sometimes he felt like a terrible father and that he wanted to just give up and that it wouldn’t cause the alarm it had when he’d mentioned it to Jaehwan once but would rather be taken as the fleeting moment of anxiety that it was. Minhyun had become a source of comfort so quickly and effortlessly.

Eventually as time ticked on, they bid their goodbyes with both needing to wake up early to get their kids ready and go to work the next day.

“Can we organise a playdate maybe? I want to see if Woojin’s energy will rub off Jinyoung, maybe it will bring him out of his shell.”

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted… For Woojin.” Seongwoo replied eagerly, adding his comment on to try to ‘play it cool’ as such, something Seongwoo was sure he must have been better at when he was younger. Thankfully Minhyun responded to it with pure laughter, clearly unbothered by Seongwoo’s awkwardness.

“Goodnight, Seongwoo.” Minhyun said softly with a smile before leaning in and placing a soft kiss onto Seongwoo’s cheek. Seongwoo wasn’t sure if he squealed just in his head or out loud too but he remained glued to the spot even as Minhyun turned and waved goodbye with a broad grin across his face. A few moments passed before Seongwoo gained the ability to shut the door, immediately leaning against it for support, exhaling forcefully and patting his burning hot, red cheeks, able to feel exactly where Minhyun’s soft lips had come into contact with his skin.  

 

In the end sometimes plans do work out, although not necessarily in the right order. Little plans and little dates spiral into bigger plans and trips and engagements and weddings. Sure, Seongwoo never got his degree but he progressed up the job ladder and volunteered in local theatre productions. As for having a kid, that step of the plan was ticked off early. Regardless, having two dads didn’t make Woojin stick to their plans any easier.


	2. Of Dates and Playdates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well you all requested it - here's a follow up to our beloved OngHwangChamDeep family. I wrote this in like 2 hours in one sitting so yeah...  
> Sorry about the delay I was working and prepping and packing for Uni!

Upon hearing that the hot guy he’d seen Seongwoo leaving the office with actually wanted to spend more time with Seongwoo, Jaehwan immediately volunteered to babysit Woojin while Seongwoo went on a real date without tiny screaming children. Of course, Seongwoo was grateful, but it was rather concerning how sad and lonely his friends viewed his life to be. However, that view was also held by Minhyun’s friendship group, in which Minki had stolen Minhyun’s phone to confirm that he was free on Friday night and that he’d denied previously simply out of not wanting to ask his friends to babysit any more than they already did, not before begging Seongwoo to please take Minhyun’s single ass on a great night.

Their first date was glorious. Neither of them could exactly afford to go to posh restaurants in fancy outfits, opting instead for a picnic in the park as the sunset, in true rom-com cheesy fashion. Seongwoo thought that seeing Minhyun was the closest he’d get to seeing heaven on earth and that kissing him was quite frankly the only thing worth doing. After that, they messaged each other near constantly outside of workhours, flowing between flirtatious banter, stories about their life and spams of baby pictures and videos of whatever silly things their kids were up to.

After two weeks and the confirmation that they were in fact dating, as well as Woojin’s insistence on seeing ‘pretty Minmin’ again, came the playdate. Frankly, Seongwoo was more nervous about this meeting than he had been about going on a date with Minhyun. Minhyun had told him that Jinyoung loved cookies and so in an attempt to win the heart of an infant, Seongwoo attempted to bake. The consequences of that was a fire alarm, the concerning smell of burning permeating the household and a crying Woojin. It was at this point that Minhyun decided to knock on the door, in true Minhyun fashion of 15 minutes early. If it had been any earlier in their relationship, Seongwoo would have been mortified however Seongwoo had come to realise that Minhyun understood what it meant to have an off-day as a parent more than anyone he’d ever met, or was simply the most willing to admit it. And so, he opened the door, the fire alarm still blaring, wearing a dirtied apron and holding Woojin who continued to cry and push away from Seongwoo.

Minhyun greeted him with a beaming grin, before wiping what he imagined to be cookie dough off Seongwoo’s cheek and ruffling Woojin’s hair, who silenced immediately. Minhyun then looked behind him and it was then that Seongwoo noticed a small hand clutching Minhyun’s, leading to a thin body entirely hidden behind his father’s. Minhyun cleared his throat and lightly pulled his arm forwards to encourage Jinyoung to stand beside him. The young boy slowly peered round and gave the smallest of waves which Minhyun beamed at, which Seongwoo imagined was a gesture that Minhyun had been teaching him to do. Seongwoo proceeded to hold Woojin out to Minhyun, who also made grabby hands towards the man, and so Minhyun let go of Jinyoung’s hand in order to cuddle Woojin. Seongwoo crouched down in front of Jinyoung who stepped backwards slightly.

“Hello Jinyoung, I’m Seongwoo. Your dad has told me all about you. Do you want to come in?” Seongwoo asked, raising his tone and smiling in a soft way as to not scare Jinyoung off. Jinyoung looked up at his dad who was listening to Woojin babble on before nodding gently. Seongwoo flashed him another smile and found that as he went to stand up, Jinyoung reached up for his hand. Seongwoo wanted to cry there and then. Seongwoo quickly shot Minhyun a frantic glance to him and then down to Jinyoung and his hands’. Minhyun looked at him confusedly before seeing the occurrence and then he broke out into the broadest grin Seongwoo had ever seen from him.

Seongwoo brought everyone into the living area where he and Minhyun sat down next to each other, the children on either side. For a little while they talked like that, Woojin more often than not leaving his father’s side to run around the room and then sit in front of Minhyun, whilst Jinyoung observed silently, only speaking up when prompted to by his father.

Seongwoo could see that Minhyun was not entirely content with the setup and had clearly established high hopes for the development of Jinyoung’s confidence in such a small amount of time. Thus, Seongwoo announced that he and Minhyun needed to prepare their meal and encouraged the two of them to play together. Minhyun followed along well, only looking confused when he saw the prepared meal sat ready to be served.

“Sometimes you’ve got to leave them to their own devices.” Seongwoo shrugged, taking Minhyun’s hand and guiding him to the doorway where they could easily watch the kids and hop backwards if they were to turn around.

“Come on Jinyoung.” Minhyun muttered, rubbing his thumb over Seongwoo’s hand anxiously after a few minutes of Jinyoung simply watching Woojin run around the room with two dinosaur plushies in hand.

Seongwoo was used his other hand to rub along Minhyun’s waist and was just about to say that ‘the kids just need to get used to each other’ when Jinyoung suddenly stood up.

“Can I play?” The parents just about heard as Jinyoung looked up at Woojin who suddenly halted his running. Woojin responded by nodding frantically and thrusting out a dinosaur for Jinyoung to take.

After what seemed like only seconds, Jinyoung went from passively observing to dashing around the room screeching like a dinosaur, or perhaps more like a Woojin.

“I’m sorry, I think I’ve just made your life so much harder.” Seongwoo laughed as he moved back into the kitchen to actually begin getting the meal together before the kids got too hungry and grouchy. As Seongwoo stirred the pot, he looked around to see Minhyun facing the wall, rubbing his eye with his sleeve.

“Are you crying?” Seongwoo asked, as he guided Minhyun round to face him. Minhyun’s eyes were tinged red ever so slightly, but it paled in comparison to his blushed nose, ears and cheeks. Regardless, Minhyun shook his head lightly, deny it.

“You big softie.” Seongwoo couldn’t help but laugh as he wiped Minhyun’s eyes and pulled him into a tight hug.

“He’s all grown up.” Minhyun whined.

“Calm down, he’s still a baby.” Seongwoo replied, poking Minhyun’s cheek teasingly.

“He’ll always be my baby… Woojin too I hope.” Minhyun said softly, as smile emerging back onto his face before he leaned forwards, wrapped his arms around Seongwoo’s waist and pulled him into a kiss. Seongwoo felt contentment wash over him in waves. This was home.

“What doing?” The two parents broke apart immediately at the sound of the small voice, Seongwoo pushing Minhyun back forcefully to the point that he would have to ask if he’d bruised Minhyun later on. Seongwoo could feel his cheeks redden immediately as he looked down at his son staring up at them in curiosity with Jinyoung beside him mirroring the same expression. Seongwoo had never known what it meant to be part of a parental unit but he imagined it went something like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was a better conclusion to this little tale than the last chapter was! Please kudos and comment and check out my other stuff I have quite a few other Onghwang works and another Onghwang and a 2park fic coming soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Please kudos and comment if you enjoyed fluffy baby Woojin and his hopeless dad (and future dad)


End file.
